local elections

SA’s local elections are complete, the votes have been tallied, and not only has it been declared free and fair, but voter turnout was up, and party competitiveness increased, with greater movement towards a two-party system, rather than the reverse. Back in 2004, there was lots of talk of movement towards one-party rule, including this … Continue reading →

Champagne flows as Zuma kicks off ANC’s ruling party – News – Mail & Guardian Online. I will try to write more about the elections next week, when all of the results are in. But the ANC, of course, won a majority of the councils and seats around the country. Although the Nelson Mandela municipality … Continue reading →

Cape set for a record poll – CapeArgus – IOL. At least in the Western Cape province, turnout for this year’s South African local elections is likely to be the highest ever among registered voters. Very exciting news for the institutionalization of democracy in SA.

May 18 election hours away – The Star. Apparently President Zuma only started tweeting last week, while the DA leader Helen Zille has been doing it throughout the campaign. A recent survey shows 56.6 percent of registered and likely voters supporting the ANC, but the DA leads in its “online strategies” (I don’t know how … Continue reading →

Battle of the Bay – In The Paper – Mail & Guardian Online. The Mail and Guardian is reporting that the ANC may lose the major Eastern Cape metro – Nelson Mandela Bay. When my research team visited Nelson Mandela in 2009, we were unable to complete our survey of municipal councilors because of tense … Continue reading →

In anticipation of tomorrow’s local elections in South Africa, I am going to post a few items today about the campaigns in various localities, particularly from the provinces where I have spent time in the past few years (Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng). When I traveled with several students to the Eastern Cape during … Continue reading →